Wine tasting #3 was held at Rich & Debby's backyard and featured grilled foods and appropriate wine pairings (theme thought of by Jason & Debby) and attended by: Jason, Andrea, Rich, Debby, Mike, Jen, Jan, Kristen, Dan & Tiffany
1. Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 (Napa)
Brought by: Mike & Jen
Purchase Info: Consumer Beverage Center (Hales Corners)
Paired with: chicken & veggie kabobs (Rich & Debby)
About the wine: http://www.frogsleap.com/pdfs/sau.pdf
2. REISLING
Brought by: Dan
Purchase Info:
Paired with: polish sausage (Kristen)
3. TRAVICELLO
Given by: Mark
Purchase Info:
Paired with: grilled meatballs (Jan)
4. CEDAR CREEK OLD MILL RED (FOCH)
Brought by: Jason & Andrea
Purchase Info: Cedar Creek Winery, $11
Paired with: sliders (Dan)
5. LAYER CAKE SHIRAZ
Brought by: Tiffany & Debby
Purchase Info: Sendik, $13
Paired with: grilled choco dessert
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I can honestly say that I enjoyed every food and every wine and especially enjoyed the pairings (if that makes sense).
We started with the meatball appetizer, which Jan grilled on her gas grill at home and the reheated in a tin on the Weber at the tasting. The grilled flavor of the meatball was a new taste for me, but one that I really liked! The sauce that accompanied it was very tasty (of course it was, it was partly made with ketchup!). The wine that Mark chose to pair with the meatball was perfect! It was a sweet, light red Italian wine that contrasted nicely with the slightly spicy meatball. I don’t think I could drink the wine on it’s own, but when paired with the meatball, the combo was a great start to the evening!
Next, Rich and Debby made an awesome chicken, mushroom and bell pepper shish kabob (the mushrooms where my favorite part!) and Mike & Jen paired it with a Frog’s Leap (Napa) Sauvignon Blanc that was very good! I do like me some Sauv Blanc!
Next up was the grilled Polish sausage (brought by Kristen) and Dan made the recommendation to pair it with an off-dry Riesling (made in CA, but in a German-style). Again, I thought the pairing was perfect, and Dan nailed it! Not an easy thing to do (pair polish sausage with wine). Riesling was probably my first favorite wine, but over time, has become too sweet for me. However the one Dan brought wasn’t too sweet and together with the polish, worked well.
Then came the awesome sliders made by Dan (with fixings provided by Rich & Debby) and paired with the Cedar Creek Old Mill Red. This is one of my personal favorite pairings… hamburgers with the Old Mill Red. I love that the grape for this wine is actually grown in Wisconsin (a rarity). The Old Mill Red is versatile, as it can go with almost any grilled food, and yet you could drink it as a stand-alone as well. I’ve been privileged to have Dan’s burgers a few times now, and once again, he did not disappoint. I’m pretty sure everyone at the tasting asked him how he made those. Mmmm. Yummy!
Lastly, came dessert. The world-renowned baker (or should be) Jan made some amazing choco-chunk cookies on the gas grill before she came. They were a perfect food to end the night with. Who knew you could grill cookies? Not me! But, they turned out and were great. I paired the cookies with a Layer Cake Shiraz. I chose this wine because a few years ago, I went to a tasting at Vino 100 in ‘Tosa and the owner paired that wine with chocolate at the end of the tasting. I think the pairing itself was really good. Not many people were impressed with the wine itself though on its own. And, I think I agree. I feel like I’ve had better Shiraz’s before, but perhaps my palate was a little off with all the different wines and grilled foods I had just had. I will probably give the Shiraz another try on it’s own sometime.
Overall, it was a great outdoor tasting. All the food was good. The wines were good. And the pairings were excellent. It was fun to be outside with everyone and I think the group is more open to trying wine with their grilled foods after this tasting.
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